Mother's Darling
by Wrider1004
Summary: The tale of a searching mother, and the boy she's looking for.
1. Prologue

There's a woman who greets the newsies with her same sad song once a week. She wanders aimlessly through the boys, searching constantly for one in particular. Patrick is his name. No one ever responds to her. None of the boys know any Patrick. Well, none of them minus two. Patrick himself and a certain boy named Mush.

He saw her that morning, and did exactly what he had done for the last six years. Mush slipped to the middle of the group and nudged his blonde friend gently in the side.

"She's here," he whispered softly, just barely loud enough for the boy to hear. The same look that the boy got every time she showed up flashed across his face – sadness, but with some confusion and just a bit of relief thrown in. He slipped around the corner as Mush looked on.

'Am I doing the right thing, helping him avoid his mum?' he thought as he watched his friend slip away. But he knew his friend would take it as betrayal if Mush were to tell the wandering mother her son was there, and had been hiding and running whenever she came looking. He couldn't lose that friendship. Although what he could do was help his friend gain the courage to go home – after all, it'd been eight years.

"_One paper, please." Mush held his hand out to the boy about his age, in the response to the request_. The boy placed a penny in his open palm and received a slightly damp paper in return. Mush sighed, realizing only then that sitting on his stack of papes had not actually helped keep them any drier than storing them under the bench would have. He looked up from pocketing his penny and his musings and realized the boy was still standing there.

"Don't you get cold out here?" Mush rolled his eyes at the silly question.

"Sure do. But there's nothing nobody can do about it. I just gotta stand and take it like a man. That's what Rider says, anyways," he replied, secretly glad for the conversation of a boy not yet affected by social level.

"Who's Rider?" the boy asked, curiosity and awe shining from his face.

"He's the one who takes care of us newsies. Well, sort of. He's the oldest of us, and so I guess he feels sort of responsible for us or something. " He studied the boy as he explained, wondering if he'd found a friend. One who didn't care how many papers Mush sold, like all the rest of the newsies.

"The name's Mush," he said as he stuck his hand out to shake.

"I'm Patrick," the boy replied with a grin as they shook, "but you can call me Pat." Mush grinned back, and then saw one of the regulars approaching. He suggested to Pat that he run the pape back to his mum, then ask her if he could come play for a bit after Mush finished selling. Patrick agreed and ran off to deliver the paper. From that day on, the two eight year olds were rarely separated in their free time.


	2. Remembrance

One day about a year after Mush and Patrick met, they decided to take their marbles down to the park to play. This was a common enough occurrence. And as the two started their game nothing appeared out of the ordinary, but then the boys heard the shouting. At the sound of the taunting voices coming their way, Patrick started grabbing marbles and stuffing them into his pockets and the cloth pouches they both carried them in.

"Hey, Mush fer brains!" Mush froze and then slowly stood and turned towards the threatening voice. It was a few older boys, looking for trouble. Travis Delancey and two of his newsie friends, Spider and Scottie, Mush realized as they came closer. The trio sauntered towards the younger boys, intent on reaching them. Mush and Patrick glanced at each other then took off running towards the park entrance. That was Rider's selling spot, and if they could just reach it then they would be safe.

Mush didn't see the rock until his toe collided with it, sending him sprawling into Patrick. The two scrambled to get up, but then Spider and Scottie were there, holding them down.

"Come now boys, surely you know better than to run from a Delancey. I thought my cousins would have taught you better," Travis sneered at the frightened boys as he stalked at a leisurely pace around them.

"Let us go, or we'll send Rider after you!" Pat screamed, hoping desperately they were close enough to the entrance for Rider to hear.

"You really think that's gonna work? Rider's out for lunch with a girl. Anyways, what does he care about a useless munchkin and his stupid little friend? It's not like you help much anyway, Mush fer brains. 20 papes don't make much of a dent in food and rent. You're lucky Rider's there to pick up the tab, ain't ya?" Travis laughed menacingly, and Spider and Scottie quickly followed his lead. That's when Patrick and Mush both knew they were done for.

A little bit later, Mush awoke to Rider's hand gently prodding his shoulder. He blinked once, twice as he tried to get his bearings. Why was he in the park? Why was he so sore? Why was – then suddenly he remembered it all. His eyes flew open and he tried to sit up, but Rider was there holding him down with a hand on his chest while he checked the young boy for injuries.

"I'm fine, Rider. Where's Pat?" Mush's frenzied tone drew Rider's attention. Rider jumped up and started searching in bushes and behind trees for the young boy. Then he saw him. Under a bush, mostly hidden by leaves and grass, Patrick lay battered and broken. Rider, his brow furrowed with worry, pulled him out and gently laid him in the grass.

Mush was alarmed at the amount of blood on his friend's clothing. Had Travis pulled a knife? Then Rider found the problem. Patrick's arm was bent awkwardly at the elbow and he could see bloodstained bone poking through the skin. His face was rather bloodied and beat up as well. Patrick kneeled down next to him, pale as a newspaper and looking very scared.

"We have to get him to a doctor," Rider squeaked, his voice jumping an octave as he tried to hide his worry and keep himself stiff and controlled. "I'll take him to the boarding house; you run ahead and warn Kloppman," Mush jumped up, ignoring his own bumps and bruises so he could help save his friend. The one thought stampeding through his head as he ran down abandoned alleyways and busy streets was _is Pat gonna be okay?'_

When he finally reached the boarding house, Kloppman was in the kitchen with the log books spread over table. Through ragged breathing, Mush finally forced barely coherent words to come out. "Pat… Park… Travis… Doctor…" Kloppman understood enough to jump out of his chair and rush out the door, just as Mush collapsed onto a stool with his head on the table.

Once he got his breath back, Mush made himself climb the stairs to the bunk room and make his bed ready for Patrick. He heard a pounding on the door and ran back downstairs to open it, letting Rider and the boy he carried inside. Rider brought Patrick upstairs, setting him gently on Mush's bed before instructing Mush to find clean towels while he boiled water for the doctor.

Right as the water started rolling, the doctor burst in with Kloppman right on his heels. Rider grabbed the pot and led the men upstairs. The doctor thanked the boys for their help then sent them out of the room and instructed them to keep the other boys out if they happened along. Rider and Mush agreed, and then went down and collapsed from exhaustion in the front room, but too worried to actually fall asleep.

A few minutes later, Mush raised his head to find Rider staring through him. His movement caused Rider to shake his head, getting rid of whatever thoughts were going through his head.

"What the heck happened? When I saw you, I thought you had just mouthed off to one of the others and they decided to teach you a lesson. But then Patrick…" Rider slumped in his chair as he mumbled this. Mush decided to answer, even though he wasn't sure Patrick was talking to him.

"Travis showed up at the park when Pat and I were playing. Spider and Scottie were with him. We tried to run, tried to get to your selling spot, but I tripped and fell into Pat and they caught up with us. Patrick threatened to send you after them if they hurt us, and they didn't take a liking to that, I guess. Rider, this is all my fault! If I hadn't wanted to go to the park, or if I had seen 'em earlier, Patrick wouldn't be hurt!" Mush wailed the last bit, just realizing the words were true as he thought them and not being able to keep them inside.

"Mush, don't," Rider whispered, even as he stood and turned towards the door. "This is no one's fault but Travis Delancey and those two monkeys of his. Don't you dare blame yourself. I'll be back in the morning, tell Kloppman not to worry." Rider's deep voice steadily climbed in volume as he got angrier, and then went back to normal when he notified Mush of his plans. With that, Rider stalked out of the room and out the front door, his eyes angry but the rest of his features appearing to be chiseled into cold, smooth marble.

Mush sighed, knowing Rider would take care of his attackers, and settling back into the chair to await the doctor's verdict. Even as his mind raced through all the possibilities of Patrick's injuries, Mush could feel himself slowly starting to lose consciousness. His last thought before giving in to his drooping eyelids was _I sure hope Pat's alright._


End file.
